Shelf Lives & Expiration Dates
by Personality Clash
Summary: James Sirius Potter had always been fascinated with all things muggle.  Chloe was no exception.
1. Prologue

Chloe smiled, forcing the corners of her lips up. "Seven eighty-two, sir," she said cheerfully. It was Monday and Chloe wasn't feeling even remotely cheerful, but it was part of her job to smile at each customer.

In front of her, a man who couldn't be more than forty pulled out his wallet and bent his head to look into it.

_Ah_, thought Chloe. _There's the bald spot_.

Chloe could tell a lot about a person by what they bought from the grocery store. Her last customer, a twentysomething with red-rimmed eyes and greasy blonde hair, had bought ten containers of hot chocolate mix and three extremely soft blankets; Chloe knew that meant she was hosting a break-up-pity-party soon. This customer was currently rifling through his wallet to purchase hair-growth cream that Chloe suspected didn't work.

He handed her his credit card and she scanned it through, charging it for the hair-growth cream. She handed the plastic rectangle back to him. "Have a nice day, sir!" she said cheerily as he walked away.

Her next customer was a boy about her age. Built, no doubt from playing some type of sport, he had warm brown eyes, black hair that was mussed up in the back, and wore a smirk as he placed a box of flavoured condoms onto the counter.

Chloe shook her head slightly and sighed, scanning the box. "Six fourteen, sir," she said.

"What's your favourite flavour?" asked the boy as he pulled out his wallet.

Chloe raised her eyebrow. "Watermelon," she replied smoothly. "What's yours?"

The boy laughed, his smirk still in place. "I wouldn't know," he replied as he handed her his credit card.

"Hmm," said Chloe uninterestedly. The manager, Dustin, walked by, glaring at her. She immediately grinned cheerfully, swiping the card through the scanner. "Have a great day, sir!"

The boy laughed. "You too, sweets." He turned around and started to walk away. Then he stopped. He turned. He walked back to Chloe's checkout counter. "When do you get off?"

"Past your bedtime, love," she replied.

The boy's gaze slipped to her nametag. "Chloe," he said simply. "You're name is Chloe."

"Indeed it is," replied Chloe. "Now, I have customers waiting, so if you could just..."

The boy looked behind him to see an old woman behind him. Other than the elderly lady, the line was empty. "Well," he said to Chloe. "Okay then." He ripped open the package of condoms and pulled out a watermelon-flavoured one. "Could I borrow a pen?" he asked, grabbing a Sharpie from the counter before Chloe could say otherwise. He scribbled some words onto the condom and handed it and the Sharpie to her.

Chloe was too mortified to look at him. She stared at the old woman behind James, who was looking on at the scene without interest.

"See you next week, Chloe," said the boy's voice next to her, and Chloe heard his footsteps reduce in loudness, marking his leave. When she was certain he was gone, and after she'd rung up the old woman (a package of Depends, extra large), she looked down at the red condom.

JAMES POTTER, read the boy's black scrawl. Scribbled next to it was an address in Godric's Hollow, where Chloe herself lived. She groaned. If he ever found out she lived in the same district at him, she would never be left alone. She shoved the condom away into her apron pocket just as Tessa, the girl taking the next shift, arrived at the counter, apron in hand.

Tessa rasied her eyebrow at Chloe's sudden movement, but said nothing, snapping her gum loudly and obnoxiously. Chloe removed her apron and, careful to watch for any particularly handsome raven-haired boys, rode her bike home, the watermelon-flavoured condom still in the pocket.

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I realize that this prologue was rather boringly written, but I promise I'll do my best to make it more interesting in the actual chapters. Also, those will be much longer, I hope.<em>

_Reviews are better than watermelon! ;)_

_Love,_

_Clash._


	2. Chapter 1

James Sirius Potter marked off another day on his calendar. It had been nearly an entire week since he'd given Chloe his name and address on the watermelon-flavoured condom, and he hadn't heard from her yet. He'd visited the supermarket every other day at least once, just to see if he could catch her there, but it was to no avail: he hadn't seen her all week. Fortunately, it was Sunday, so he only had to wait another day and a half.

James wasn't completely sure as to why he was so intrigued by the brown-haired girl. Her hair was the colour of chestnut and messy, and her nose was, perhaps, slightly larger than he would have chosen had he the choice...she wasn't perfect, of course - nobody was perfect - but she was certainly pretty. He'd seen girls prettier than her, but something about her had taken him in. So much so, that he hadn't even had the chance to use the entire package of condoms in the week he was waiting to see her again. He'd played some video games, strummed his guitar, had a bit of fun with a blonde named Elise who was only staying in Godric's Hollow for that week (no strings attached!)...but he wasn't satisfied. Chloe wasn't perfect, he reminded himself again, frustrated with his creeping obsession with the girl, but a lingering thought followed: sure she wasn't perfect, but she was damn close.

Content with his thoughts, James planted a smirk onto his face and walked into the kitchen, where his brother, Albus, was eating some leftover cake from Lily's birthday last night.

"Al," said James, nodding his head to acknowledge his brother.

"James," replied Albus, swallowing a remarkably large piece of cake. "Off to the supermarket?" he asked lightly, not looking at his brother. James had been going to the supermarket a lot this week, and Albus thought he knew why. It was probably Chloe. He'd met her before. Chloe and Lily had been friends as children, before Lily went to Hogwarts and could only come back during the summer. Chloe usually left Britain for the summer to visit her cousins in America. This summer, however, she seemed to have a job at the supermarket. And since she was no longer a child, she also had a chest and buttocks, both of which, Al had noticed on his last visit to the supermarket, were quite nice to look at. Al would have gladly accompanied James to stare at Chloe in the supermarket had he not a girlfriend to whom he was hoping to propose soon. He was only twenty, but he knew Audrey was the one for him.

"No," said James defensively as Al's perhaps-future-wife came down the stairs, angelic as ever in her striped pajama pants and tee shirt.

"Morning, Aud," said Albus cheerfully, kissing her softly as she approached him to say good morning.

"Good morning," said the auburn-haired girl, brushing away some reddish hair out of her face. "Cake for breakfast? Grandma Weasley's taught you lot well."

James chuckled. "It's in the fridge," he said, and Audrey made a beeline for the white cooling box next to the stove. "Well," he said, "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

"What, not at the grocery store?" questioned Audrey with a smirk. "I dare say the cashier shall miss you today, James."

He rolled his eyes and carried himself up the stairs to his room, just next to Lily's. He was just about to sit down on his bed to practise his guitar when he heard the noise: a moan. Coming from next door. Lily's room. He stepped outside and stood just outside the door. Another moan and he would barge in. Another moan and James would lose it.

Surely enough, another moan was emitted from presumably his sister's mouth, and he opened her bedroom door and ran in. "What the hell are you _doing_?" he asked, looking around.

Lily sat on her bed, biting a chocolate bar. "Mmm," she moaned again, allowing the sweet to melt and dissolve in her mouth. "It's so good. Want some, James?"

James exhaled, relieved. "Yes, please. Just give me the rest. What is it, Ghirardelli?"

"Yes," said Lily, "and you won't have the rest unless you'll go get me another form the supermarket." She paused, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Not that you were planning to go in the first place, yeah? Because there's nothing to _see_ there, yeah?"

James could feel his face growing hot. "Well, there isn't any _thing_ to see, really," he argued.

"Oh right!" exclaimed Lily with a laugh. "It's a _person_, isn't it, James? By the name of...Chloe, perhaps?"

"How did you know!" asked James, laughing, embarrassed.

"I only played with her until I was about _eleven_," said Lily sarcastically, breaking off half of the remainder of the chcoolate bar in her hand. She held it out for him. "Get me more now, Jamesie. I love you."

James snatched the chocolate from her hand and turned to go. "Thanks," he said, and then he left the room, put on his shoes, and headed to the supermarket, the guitar on his bed long since forgotten.

* * *

><p>Chloe was frustrated because James was back, <em>again<em>. It wasn't that he was ugly - he was quite the opposite, if Chloe was truthful with herself - and it wasn't that he made dirty jokes - because he didn't. He was surprisingly well-behaved. But there was something about him that scared Chloe.

At first, she'd thought it was that he bought condoms once a week. A playboy like that certainly was no good news. She'd quickly shooed that thought out of her mind, though, once she realized that she'd only ever seen him buy condoms once...

Then she'd thought it was because he sort of resembled her _last_ boyfriend, who had cheated on her at least three times with three different girls. But, once again, she'd waved the thought away, with the reasoning that just because he perhaps _looked_ like Jason, he _wasn't_ Jason...

Then she'd finally considered the thought that perhaps the reason she was a bit frightened of him was because she could like him so much. She hadn't yet thought of a reason not to believe that one, but she was hoping to come up with one soon.

Which was why, Saturday afternoon, James was the last person she wanted to see. Fortunately, she wasn't working at the checkout counters that day. Unfortunately, she had to cover aisle three: cookies and snacks.

Aisle three meant hungry children who got angry when their parents wouldn't buy them snacks. Aisle three meant cookie crumbs on the floor from irresponsible mothers who opened packages of snacks before they were purchased. Aisle three meant work for Chloe, and she didn't like it one bit.

She went to the storage closet to get more packages of Chips Ahoy cookies to stack. She also grabbed a broom just in case she needed to sweep up some crumbs. And she thought she would probably need the dust pan, so she tried to reach for that, as well...

But Chloe hadn't stacked the cookies correctly in her arms, and the packages fell, no doubt crushing the cookies contained in the bags. Chloe could have cried. "SHIT!" she shouted loudly, because she was in the storage room, and that was supposed to be soundproof.

"Nothing makes sense!" shouted a boy's voice next ot her.

Chloe jumped and turned to her companion, a coworker named Niel. "Oh my god, Niel, you scared me!" She laughed nervously. "I accidentally dropped some of the cookies."

"It's okay," said Niel, shrugging it off. "Just grab some more packs. We can throw those packs out, or else we could open them, if you want to."

"Oh," laughed Chloe, "I'm not all that hungry, honestly. But you can open them if you'd like!"

"Okay," said Niel. "Maybe later. Here, I'll help you carry the dust pan and some of the cookie packs. You get the broom and the rest of the cookies."

The pair walked back to aisle three, holding the broom, dust pan, and cookies. Niel set them down on the floor next to Chloe when they reached the aisle.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Niel responded, then he waved and turned back to the storage room, leaving Chloe to stack the cookies alone.

* * *

><p>James could see Chloe from his vantage point between aisles four and three. He really hadn't gone out looking specifically for Chloe - the cashier, a tall, lanky girl named Tessa who snapped her gum obnoxiously had told him that he could find all the chocolate he wanted in aisle four. He'd gone expecting a candy shop, but there had been nothing but saltine crackers and cans of soup. Then he'd gone to aisle three to check if perhaps the cashier had been one off, and there was Chloe.<p>

She was squatted down on the tile floor of the store, stacking some blue packages. Every time she reached to put another package on the shelf, the back of her shirt would slide up a bit, revealing to James a sliver of the skin on her back, which was smooth and tan, if the sliver told him anything.

"Stop staring at me," came Chloe's gentle voice.

James grinned, even though she couldn't see it. "Sorry," he said. "I just couldn't stop."

"Obviously." She stood up, unfolding herself off from the floor. "If you're going to be here and not buy anything, you ought to at least help me stack cookies."

James' grin widened for some reason. He didn't quite know why, considering Chloe was bossing him around and telling him to help her work. "Okay," he said. He stepped closer to her and picked up a package of cookies. "Here?" he asked, putting it on a shelf with some other similarly packaged cookies.

Chloe nodded. "There. That's good." She squatted back onto the floor. Her shirt rose again. "I'll hand you each pack and you stack it on the shelf, alright?"

James stared at the sliver of exposed skin on her back. "Deal," he said.

They stacked like that until all the packs of cookies were gone. Then Chloe helped James locate the chocolate bars. She scanned it for him and he paid, and then, without so much as a watermelon flavoured condom, James left the store, leaving Chloe alone at the register, even though she was supposed to be in aisle three with the broom and dust pan that she hadn't yet used.

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I realize this chapter wasn't exactly funny. Crap. So I'm planning a lot of grocery store puns in the next chapter, which should make up for the complete lack of funniness in this one. :(<em>

_Anyway. Congratulations to any of you who got the Say Anything (band) reference! Hahah._

_HUGE thanks to my reviewers for the prologue: _lovely42 (JSP is my fave) and bamanda808 (watermelon rocks)!

_Reviews are better than chocolate bars! :)_

_Love,_

_Clash._


	3. Chapter 2

Chloe hated a lot about herself, but currently it was her inability to kill the pigs on Angry Birds that she hated most about herself. She cursed her phone and chucked it across her bedroom before rolling off of her bed and fetching it again.

"Chloe, dear, are you alright?" asked her father from downstairs. She heard his footsteps stomping up the stairs and quickly snatched her phone from off the ground next to her and jumped back onto her bed.

"I'm fine, dad."

He opened her door a crack, sticking his head in. He was young for a father, and quite handsome. Chloe resembled him quite a bit; her eyes, her ears, her thin neck - all of those were his as well as hers. "You sounded quite upset when you cursed and chucked something against your wall."

Chloe couldn't suppress her grin. "All's well, dad. Thanks for checking up." She turned off her phone. "Have you walked Hero yet?" she asked.

"No," said her father hesitantly. Then, defensively: "But I was getting to it!"

Chloe laughed. "I'll do it, dad. I wanted to go for a walk anyway."

"Thank you, darling," her father said with a smile before stomping back down the stairs.

Chloe got up, shoving her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She loved her dad, but sometimes...sometimes he was just so lazy. And he forgot things rather quickly. It was a wonder he hadn't yet forgotten important business meetings. She climbed down the stairs and attached a leash to her beautiful dog, Hero.

Hero was one of the reasons Chloe had stayed with her father after the divorce. While her older sister and mother had moved back to Arizona in the United States, Chloe had remained in Britain with her father. Her mother had tried to convince Chloe to stay with her multiple times, claiming that the Anderson Womens' Bond wouldn't be as strong without her there, but Chloe had been firm in her decision: she was to stay with Hero, and Hero was to stay with Mr. Anderson.

"Come on, you beautiful Hero," she said, fastening the black leather onto the collar around the dog's neck. Hero wimpered. "I don't like this bloody leash either, honey, but we have to do it," said Chloe softly. She led the dog outside.

It was wet and gloomy outside, telling Chloe that it had just rained. She slipped on her coat and resumed her promenade, Hero next to her.

"So where do you want to go, Hero?" asked Chloe once the pair reached the end of their street. "The park?" Hero barked adorably. Chloe grinned. "Okay then," she cooed, and headed in the direction of the park.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the abandoned playground. The swings were wet, and the slides. Chloe wiped the swing seat off before sitting herself down on it, Hero's leash still in her hand. The dog in question pounced onto her lap and she petted him. "Aren't you precious, Hero? I love you." Chloe grinned into Hero's fur. "Do you love me, too?"

"Yes, I do, actually," said a very human voice.

Chloe jumped, her head snapping up to the source of the noise. "Oh, it's _you_," she said, placing a hand on her heart and looking up at James.

He grinned his dimpled smile. "It's me."

Chloe nuzzled her head back into Hero's damp fur. "What do you want?" she asked. She didn't mean for it to sound mean, but it ended up rude anyway. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean it rudely."

James looked surprised that she apologised. "No problem," he said right away. "Did you know that we know each other?"

Chloe snorted and raised her head from her dog once again. "Really, James? I know who you are? How strange!"

James rolled his warm brown eyes and chuckled. "I mean we knew each other before I gave you that condom."

"Hmm...from where? I don't recall meeting you before condoms."

The raven-haired boy snorted. "You used to play a lot with my little sister."

"Really? What's her name? I didn't even know you _had_ a little sister."

"Lily."

"Oh my god! You _can't_ be James _Potter_ related to _Lily_!" Chloe laughed for a few moments, until her stomach hurt a bit and her face was beginning to turn a slight rosy colour. She sighed. "You've changed so much, James!" She chuckled again.

James looked at her on the swing with her dog on her lap and couldn't help but smile. She was breathtaking. "So've you! I mean...look at you!"

Chloe's face suddenly turned crimson. "I...well, how's the family?"

"Fantastic, as always," replied James smoothly, smirking at Chloe's embarassment. "Lily's studying to become a nurse, and Al's going to propose to his girlfriend soon, we think."

"That's wonderful, James," said Chloe. She shook her head a bit again. "Can I meet them again? It's been...what, eight years now? Nine? How on earth did you recognise me?"

"You're different, Chloe, but you're not _that_ different. I can still, y'know, recognise someone my little sister spent all her time with eight years ago."

"Yes..." Chloe's eyebrows furrowed together suddenly. "Why did you leave the school? I was left all alone!" She chuckled a bit.

James laughed openly. "Poor Chloe...did you say you wanted to meet the family again?" he asked, subtly changing the subject.

Chloe nodded and addressed Hero. "What d'you say, Hero? You want to go see Lily again? Perhaps she knows where we hid Lionel the Ken doll, yeah?" Hero barked. "Alright, let's go." Hero jumped off of Chloe's lap and James, Chloe and Hero made their way back to their street and to James' house, just three away from Chloe's.

"Mum!" called James. "Do you remember Chloe?"

A flustered Ginny Weasley answered the door with a sigh. "James, I've not _clue_ who - Ohhhhhhhhh. Hello, dear!" She ushered her son and Chloe into the house, even allowing Hero to enter. "I'm Mrs. Potter, James' mother. You must be Chloe!"

Chloe laughed nervously and James glared at his mother. "Heh, my mom says that to everyone," he tried to cover.

The brunette just raised her eyebrow and shook her head, suppressing a smirk.

"Lily! Al! I've brought a surprise for you!" shouted James up the staircase once he and Chloe entered the living room.

Immediately, a red-haired woman who couldn't be older than twenty shot down the stairs at terrific speed on a broom. She threw herself off of the broom and stood in front of James before looking around the room curiously. Her eyes landed on a stunned Chloe, whose jaw was wide open.

"Um..." Lily trailed off and chuckled nervously.

"She's just embarassed because she still jumps down the staircase and pretends to fly," said a smooth voice behind Lily, who moved over a couple of steps, revealing what was undoubtedly James' younger brother.

Chloe snorted. "I used to do that too...when I was six."

Lily exhaled, relieved. "Ha! I totally remember that. We used to do that together!"

Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe how much you've changed!" she exclaimed. "Are you seeing anyone?" she asked suggestively.

James interrupted with a snort: "No. Why would anyone want to date Lilykins?"

Lily stuck her tongue out at her brother. Albus looked on at the scene with vague interest. Lily grabbed Chloe's hand. "I know it's been forever, but we simply _must_ catch up. Come to my room, we can talk safely there." Lily eyed her brothers suspiciously before dragging the brunette up the stairs and to her room, leaving Albus and James alone in the living room.

"Where's Fred?" asked James to Albus, referring to their cousin. Fred was practically their brother, given the time the three boys spent together. The entire Potter-Weasley clan was rather close. Some people thought it was strange, but everyone was everyone's friend in that family. There were fights, of course: family strifes were inevitable - however, the large family managed to make do relatively peacefully.

"Right here, mate," said Fred, appearing right behind James and making the raven-haired boy jump.

"You remember Chloe Anderson, right?" asked Albus.

Fred thought a moment. "I think we pranked her a right lot when we were kids, yeah?"

James grinned and nodded. "Yeah. She's here. For the summer, at least. She's actually in this house right now."

"Is she really? It's been...what, eight years? Nine?"

"She's all grown up now."

"Perfect. Let the pranking resume."

"Nope," said Chloe, descending the stairs gracefully with Lily. "I don't want to be pranked, thank you very much. I was victim to your immaturity prior to age eleven, and I don't look forward to being subject to that humilitaion again now that I'm nineteen."

"You're twenty and twenty-one," said Lily to Fred, Albus and James, shaking her head. "Shouldn't you be _over_ the pranking phase by now?"

"Never, love," grinned Fred and James at the same time.

Albus adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Any of you lot seen Audrey today?"

"Who's Audrey?" asked Chloe.

"Albus' future wife," three voices chorused while Albus beamed proudly. James added: "If he ever mucks up the courage to ask her."

Chloe smiled gently. "Aw, that's adorable. How are you going to ask her?"

Her question was met with silence, and just as Chloe was going ask why, a voice behind her asked a different question entirely. "Really, Albus?" Chloe twirled around to see the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She had auburn hair and beautiful bright blue eyes. She was tall and thin and wore a simple black dress. This was Audrey, no doubt, and she'd heard everything.

Albus spoke up. "Yes." He pulled a piece of paper and a small, black box out of the pocket of his jeans. "Carried these around, just in case the moment ever came," he muttered. "Silly."

Chloe stepped back, allowing Audrey to be in the center of the circle they had unconsciously formed. Audrey gasped when Albus opened the box.

"Audrey, I didn't know when to do this, or what to say, so I wrote it out ahead of time." James snorted, and Albus continued: "I meant to memorise it, but you like things in writing better anyway..." Albus handed Audrey the small slip of paper.

Audrey looked at it cosely for a moment before a tear dropped down her face. She nodded her head, beaming. Then she stepped closer to Albus and kissed him.

Fred wolf-whistled and Chloe and Lily looked on with smiles. James was smirking. Albus and Audrey broke apart, and the entire surrounding group broke out into laughter and cheers.

"Congratulations Audrey and Albus!" shouted James, pulling out his wand. He restored it into his pocket quickly after receiving a strange look from Chloe. "Stupid sticks, dunno how those got in here..."

* * *

><p>"So," said Audrey to Chloe an hour later, her face glowing, "we've never met. But I hear you're James' object of affection at the current moment?" The entire Weasley-Potter clan was currently in the Potters' living room celebrating Albus and Audrey.<p>

Chloe snorted. "No, I'm sorry to say that you are sorely mistaken. We're just...friends, I think. If even that. But how about you! What do you do, Audrey?"

"I'm a journalist," she said, grinning. "I write about sports, actually."

"Oh, which sport?" asked Chloe, genuinely interested. "Which paper do you write for?"

Audrey smiled at her, thinking up a good topic-changer. "Never mind _me_!" she laughed. "What about _you_? What do you do? What do you _want _to do, if that's not the same question as the previous one?"

Chloe grinned. "I'd love to become a nurse, like Lily. I love helping people, you see, even if I don't act like it all the time." She chuckled. "Right now I work at a supermarket, actually. But I'm returning to nursing school in the fall."

Audrey laughed. "Well _check you out_!" she said. "Pun absolutely intended."

Chloe laughed. "Yes, got to love grocery store puns."

"Those have no expiration date for when they'll become unfunny!" said James, joining their conversation. He laughed at his own joke.

"That one just _failed_, James," said Audrey.

"Miserably," agreed Chloe with a chuckle. James was obviously drunk, even if only slightly. It was only seven in the afternoon and he'd already had too much to drink in the hour that the Potter-Weasley clan had arrived.

"Alright, alright," said James sourly. "I'll come up with another one." He thought a moment before a grin broke out onto his face. "Chloe, beautiful, fair, wonderful Chloe!"

Chloe blushed and tried to suppress her giggles. Audrey was laughing openly. James had attracted Fred and Lily's attention by then, and a few other family members were staring at him strangely.

"Darling Chloe, will you go out on an _expiration date_ with me?"

Lily cracked up, and Fred slapped James in the back of the head. Chloe raised her eyebrows. "That was pathetic," she said, smiling.

"Pathetic enough to work?" asked James charmingly, pouting slightly.

"I _suppose_ I could find time to go on an expiration date with you," said Chloe, sighing dramatically but grinning nonetheless.

"My love for you shall never expire!" exclaimed James.

"You are drunk," said Lily simply, dragging him up the stairs and away from a laughing Chloe.

Chloe returned home soon after James was dragged upstairs.

"Hello, dad!" she shouted. "I'm home!"

"Chloe darling! There you are. It's been nearly three hours! You right near gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, dad," she said. She untied Hero from his leash and made her way upstairs, pulling out her phone and preparing herself to play Angry Birds again. But even when she lost, she didn't swear, nor did she chuck her phone at the wall. She just grinned, remembering James' face when he asked her on that expiration date. She put her phone down and laid her head back on her pillow, feeling stupid and girlish, but loving the feeling nonetheless.

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I'm loving the feedback I'm getting so far! Thank you all so much. <em>

_HUGE thanks to my reviewers for chapter one: _lovely42 (I usually update rather quickly, but lately I've been slacking), Rani Jashalithie (I'm glad you like it so far!), and Megii of Mysteri OusStranger (yay, I'm glad you like it! Yes, it's way different from the other story, haha.)!

_Reviews are better than grocery store puns! :)_

_Love,_

_Clash._


	4. Chapter 3

It was mornings such as these that made Chloe approach the ugly white concrete grocery store slowly, filled with a sense of dread that could only mean that it was, in fact, that single, tortorous day of the month during which the Employee of the Month would be announced.

To Niel, Chloe was sure it meant possibilities - finally a chance for her tall, scrawny coworker to climb another rung of the ladder of success. To Tessa, Chloe figured it didn't matter much; Tessa never seemed to be interested in anything, really. To Nathan and Mitchell, the two "class clown" type figures of the Godric's Groceries staff, Chloe was fairly sure it meant a new target to humiliate: it seemed to be a tradition for the two to surround the Employee of the Month with embarassing guffaws that were not only obnoxious but also fairly long-lasting (when Nathan and Mitchell started laughing, it took a lot to get them settled down).

To Chloe herself, however, Employee of the Month day meant that she would wake up with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. It meant that she would skip breakfast, feeling nauseous, but even more dread would accumulate in her aching belly anyway, like small grains of dust adding to a dust monster. Employee of the Month day meant Chloe could never win: on one hand, if she didn't win the award, that was just another unwelcome reminder of Chloe's own worthlessness (Chloe had never won a proper award, even as a young child in primary school, and especially not as a teenager in secondary school); on the other hand, however, if Chloe won the Employee of the Month award, Nathan and Mitchell (who Chloe secretly admired for their harmless pranks and hilarious commentary on just about anything their stuffy, no-nonsense manager said) would undoubtedly make fun of her shamelessly, and then...well, then she'd _never_ become their friend.

Either way, Chloe felt that she was trapped: worthlessness or lack of friendship. It was a vicious cycle, and Chloe wished more than anything that she didn't have to go through it.

"Just for the summer, Chloe," said the brunette to herself as she pedaled towards the automatic glass doors of Godric's Groceries as slowly as she possibly could without falling off of her bike. When she finally arrived, she chained her bike (slowly) and headed to the automatic doors (even more slowly).

The glass doors flew open as soon as Chloe stepped on the entrance mat outside. _Welcoming me to my doom_, thought Chloe miserably to herself. She took a moment to breathe more rhythmically and started the journey to the staff room.

When she arrived, most of the staff was already assembled and sitting in the hard, plastic chairs that fill the staff room. Only Nathan and Mitchell were missing. Tessa was clipping her nails in the back corner and popping her gum loudly, obnoxiously.

"-like to thank you all for your hard work," Dustin the Manager was saying as Chloe entered the room. Dustin shot her a glare as she took her seat by the door, and continued: "So you all should give yourselves a nice pat on the back..."

Nathan and Mitchell entered just in time for that, and went around the room, patting everybody on the back. "_Fabulous_ work this past month, _really_!" they exclaimed to each passing person.

"Chloe, my dear!" exclaimed Mitchell upon reaching the small brunette.

She sighed. "Hey, Mitchell."

"It's impoossible to tell you how fabulously _perfect_ you've been this past month," he replied, puffing his chest up. At the front of the room, Dustin was trying in vain to restore order to the now unattentive room.

Nathan joined Mitchell. "You're positively the _best cashier we've ever had_ in all our twenty thousand million years of business!" he said, his voice rising with each syllable. He winked. "You keep bringing back that group of randy teenagers, doesn't she, Mitch?"

"Right she does, Nathaniel," said Mitch with a nod. He pretended to stroke his chin. "And...that black-haired bloke..."

"Which one, Mitch? Be specific; Chloe's got loads of black-haired admirers."

"And blonde ones."

"And red-haired ones."

"Even a blue-haired bloke I think."

Chloe's face was, by that point, undeniably loud in its shade of red (none of what they'd said was true, except for the part about the randy group of teenage boys and a single black-haired admirer named James), and she was on the verge of berating the two mischief-makers when Niel stood up at the opposite end of the room, stomped his foot aggressively and shouted one word: "QUIET!"

The room went dead silent. Even Dustin, standing at the front of the room, was looking at Neil in fright.

Neil blinked and went red in the face. "Sorry," he muttered, and not ten seconds after the word was out of his mouth, everyone sprung back to reality. Dustin cleared his throat at the front of the room as Nathan and Mitch sat down in the seats next to Chloe.

"As I was saying before the, um, interruption" - here, Dustin's gaze flickered to the dynamic duo next to Chloe - "I'd like to thank all of you for your hard work this month...and congratulate you all...so...congratulations, I guess."

Nathan and Mitchell applauded loudly.

Dustin plowed on: "And even though you all performed terrifically in your duties, there is one person in particular who went above and beyond..."

Chloe's throat dropped into her stomach: 'above and beyond'? She certainly hadn't done that. 'Above and beyond' what? Chloe didn't understand.

"...I'd like to present our Employee of the Month, Niel Karis!"

Niel smiled widely as he shuffled up to the front of the room and Chloe, feeling neither worthless nor completely relieved, clapped her small, pale hands together loudly again and again.

* * *

><p>James still hadn't heard from Chloe.<p>

It had been three days since she had accepted his offer for the date, and he was beginning to feel like a needy girlfriend. This couldn't be healthy. He descended the beautifully crafted wooden staircase and entered his mother's emmaculate kitchen, which was empty. James was grateful for the emptiness of the kitchen. It seemed suitable for the room to be empty when he himself was feeling that way.

"Mommy," he groaned after sitting himself down on one of the dark green bar stools in front of the counter. He recieved no reply. His stomach growled. "Mommy," he called again, but again there was no answer, and James felt it would be foolish to call for her again. He stood and headed out without any specific destination in mind.

Though he hadn't known in on the way there, his feet (curse those damn feet of his) had brought him to the one place he didn't want to be (or so he thought). The light shone through the neon red of the lit up Godric's Groceries sign. James wondered briefly why they would keep it lit up during the daytime.

_Alright_, thought James to himself with a huff. His feet had brought him to the store, but he wasn't going to be betrayed by them again. He didn't want to enter the bloody store and he certainly didn't want to see anyone in it - _especially Chloe_, thought James angrily. If she wasn't interested, fine - but she didn't have to go lead him on for weeks at a time, with her stupid laugh and her stupid sliver of skin and her stupid face and her stupid eyes and her stupid...everything, really.

James ran a tan hand through his shiny black hair and puffed his cheeks out, upset with himself. She was probably just busy, and here he was, criticising her very being. Merlin, she was messing him up.

And Merlin's baggy jeans, she was beautiful, he had to notice, as she exited the store, her chestnut hair flowing gracefully behind her perfectly framed face as an abrupt gust of wind hit her. Her shirt flew up a bit, once again revealing to James that wonderful sliver of her slightly bronzed stomach, and her jeans fit her snugly, low on her hips as she swung her legs past each other to take each step forward. He could stare at her all day...

She stopped suddenly, just a few paces in front of the tree against which James leaned casually as he gazed longingly at her. He didn't realise until it was too late that she was approaching him.

"James?" she asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"Hi," breathed James.

"What are you doing here?"

What was he doing there? That was a damn good question. "I'm not so sure, actually," said James with a sheepish grin. He ran a hand through his raven hair.

An awkward silence filled the distance between the two. Chloe looked down at the ground. James tried to think of something to say.

"So what did you..." James started to speak just as Chloe did as well, and they both clamped their mouths shut and laughed awkwardly.

"This is quite awkward," said Chloe conversationally.

"Yeah," agreed James. "Sorry."

"I should go."

"Why?"

Chloe hesitated. "I dunno. Do you want me to go?"

"I don't think I do." James gestured behind him. "Would you like to take a walk, Chloe?" he asked.

"Sure."

The two walked in mellow silence for a few minutes before James cleared his throat and asked, "so how are you today?"

"I'm alright, thanks. And yourself?"

"Perfectly wonderful, as a matter of fact."

"I wasn't Employee of the Month," said Chloe randomly.

James snorted. "Were you expecting to be?"

Chloe frowned. "It could happen!"

"Doubtful," said James. He didn't mean to get her upset, but she looked so good when she was angry...it was hard to resist.

Chloe huffed. "You never got back to me on that expiration date."

"My love for you will never expire," James repeated cheekily, grinning widely.

"Well mine expired when you decided it'd be fun to piss me off, _James_," she said angrily. She stepped toward him until they were a mere couple of inches away from each other and poked her finger into his chest like she'd seen done in movies countless times. "Why are you being so...so...why are you being so..."

When she was mad, James noticed, perfect creases appeared on Chloe's flawless forehead and her lower lip, pink and perfectly plump, stuck out a bit. When she was mad, she tensed up a bit, and her ordinarily brown eyes developed a greenish tinge, so slight but so beautiful...why hadn't he thought to make her mad before? When she was mad, Chloe was just so...she was just so...

He stepped even closer and Chloe's struggle for a word to describe James (and James' own internal struggle for a word to accurately describe Chloe) ended when his lips came crashing down to hers and Chloe's thin arms wrapped around his tanned neck instinctively. His muscular arms fell around her waist naturally, pulling her closer to him until the lock of the lips was broken and Chloe stared at James and James at Chloe, both of them speechless.

"Sorry," said James awkwardly. "You're irresistible when you're angry."

Chloe laughed breathlessly. "You haven't even taken me out on a date."

"It was sort of impulsive. Sorry," he repeated.

"No need to apologise," said Chloe lightly. "Just saying, you owe me a date."

"And I'm perfectly willing to follow through on that."

"Alright."

"Cool," said James.

Chloe blushed. "I have to go," she said adorably, tucking a strand of silky brown hair behind her perfect little ear.

James wanted to kiss her again, but stopped himself. "Bye then," he said.

"Er...bye, James." Chloe kissed him softly on the cheek and was off. She felt good. She wasn't Employee of the Month, and Nathan and Mitch hadn't paid any more attention to her than they normally did, but she felt good.

"Fucking hell," said James to himself when Chloe had gone. He ran a hand through his hair yet again. He had said it because he didn't know what else to say, but it felt good saying it, so he said it again. "That girl..." James trailed off with a sigh. "Fucking hell."

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I know you probably all want to roast my head over a fire, but please try to restrain yourselves. Haha. I'm terribly sorry for how long this update took, but I've been so busy; school started up agian two weeks ago, and I've moved to a brand new school, so it's a lot different, and I've got homework and social issues and stuff...haha anyway. Thanks everyone who alertedfavourited/reviewed/any combo of those previously mentioned ! You all are motivating me to keep this story going. :) Oh also, I made this chapter longer than the others because I felt bad for how long the update took. Even though I don't think this was my best chapter, I hope you guys liked it!;D_

_HUGE thanks to my reviewers for chapter two: _AshleyM15 (I hope you liked this chapter!), Rani Jashalithie (Your comments absolutely make my day!), lepetiterose (I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you keep reading!) and Megii of Mysteri OusStranger (I hope this was a bit better than the last chapter, haha)!

_Reviews are better than Employees of the Month! :)_

_Love,_

_Clash._


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